SourceLOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, August 27, 2004: Is your car vegan? Actor Michael Bell’s is. The 66-year-old Los Angeles resident doesn’t eat or wear animal products, and his hybrid car doesn’t have a stitch of leather in it. If it had, Bell said, he wouldn’t have bought the car, a 2001 Toyota Prius, despite its impeccable green credentials. In raw numbers,…
SourceHYDERABAD, INDIA, August 24, 2004: Do not be surprised if you see smaller icons in the Ganesha mandaps this year. Icon-makers in Dhoolpet and other areas of the city are making icons that are less than 10 feet tall. The sculptors say that they are being forced to do this because of the increase in the prices of basic raw…
SourceRAMALLAH, WEST BANK, August 26, 2004: A grandson of Mohandas Gandhi took the legendary Indian leader’s doctrine of nonviolent resistance to the heart of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict on Thursday, pitching the pacifist creed to Yasser Arafat in his sandbagged, bullet-scarred West Bank headquarters. Ringed by armed bodyguards, Arafat looked on in silence as Arun Gandhi talked to reporters after the…
SourceLONDON, ENGLAND, August 21, 2004: Is there a curry crisis in Britain or in Europe. If you ask the average European, he might just say — Curry Crisis? What crisis? But in Britain, something of a crisis has emerged in one of the country’s best-loved institutions – Indian restaurants. South Asian food is now Brit’s favorite cuisine, and demand for…
SourceSRINAGAR, INDIA, August 21, 2004: In the run up to the final phase of the Amarnath Yatra, the Holy Mace (Chhari Mubarak), symbol of the Lord Siva, was offered worship by Mahant Deepinder Giri at a ceremony at the Dashanmi Akhara temple here this evening on the occasion of Nag Panchmi. Head priest of the Akhara Mahant Deepinder Giri offered…
SourceKUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA, August 21, 2004: Nanban newspaper reported on the need for Hindus to understand traditional rituals and customs and the importance of getting the right people involved in them. The daily quoted Malaysia Hindu Academy president T. Vairenraj as saying that the younger generation should understand the various religious rituals. He said according to the Hindu dharma there…
SourceNEW YORK, NEW YORK, August 25, 2004: HPI Notes: This lawsuit was previously reported (HPI August 17), but this announcement is from the Becket Fund itself, who is filing the suit on behalf of the temple and includes PDF links (go to “source”) to the actual court documents. This is an important case, and anyone involved with a Hindu temple…
SourceMUMBAI, INDIA, August 17, 2004: Schools in Mumbai are cracking down on junk food in childrens’ lunches in an effort to curb growing obesity among young people. Gazala Shaikh, headmistress of Begum Sharifa Kalsekar Girls English School, says, “Students have to eat lunch in class. Teachers confiscate junk food, and a note is sent to the parents requesting that their…
SourceMYSORE, INDIA, August 19, 2004: Recalling sage Panini’s 2,000-year-old contribution to acoustics, the former Vice-Chancellor of Hyderabad University, B.S. Ramakrishna, on Thursday said the sage’s well-researched arrangement of the alphabet of Devanagiri script was a unique effort. Inaugurating a national workshop on “Acoustic analysis of speech” here, Prof. Ramakrishna said the scientific arrangement of alphabets of Devanagiri script was in…
SourceBANGALORE, INDIA, August 15, 2004: From humble beginnings years ago when the location of this sacred site was in the middle of a forest to today when the site is a hub of activity for the local citizens, Lord Hanuman is a true presence in West Bangalore. It all started when a monkey made its home on a rock in…